India’s young badminton player Shankar Muthusami has made history by becoming the country’s second person to compete in the BWF Finals Globalism Junior Championship.
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He beat Indonesian Panichavon Tiratsakul in a semi-final which lasted around 40 minutes as the Indian won in straight sets 21-13, 21-15.
Join a respected company with this achievement as it follows in the footsteps of one of the country’s most famous footballers, Saina Nehwal who reached the gold medal game of the tournament in 2008. Nehwal went on to win the yellow metal in the event.
He also became the 10th Indian to win a medal at the World Junior Championships following Lakshya Sen’s bronze medal at the 2018 edition.
The first game was tied until the end of the first half with India having a three point advantage. However, Shankar returned to full form after halftime and moved on to Indonesia with a powerful jump to close the set in 16 minutes and take the lead.
But in the second set which lasted 24 minutes, Teeraratsakul pushed South Indian football to work even harder. The stalemate saw a hotly contested point in a 57 attack rally before the shuttle crashed and touched down.
Also in the second game, India entered the set with the upper hand. But he suffered a severe drop in his quest for a point but came back strong to take a six-point lead at 18-12.
Sankar beat China’s Hu Chen An 21-18, 8-21, 21-16 in the quarterfinals to advance his match against Tiratsacol and seal a medal.
This time’s edition of the prestigious event, where India previously won 9 medals including the Saina Gold which resulted in three silver and five bronze, was held in Spain.
Sankar hopes to follow Nahwal’s example and win a gold medal in the final event.
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